The Power Of Saying 'No' In Business

On our Double Heart Ranch in the middle of Texas Hill Country, cedar trees grow like weeds. And while the resilient, purposeful cedar is valued the world over for its fragrant and soft red wood, it will also take over your pastureland inside of five years, thwart the beautiful oaks and suck your water table dry before you can whistle The Yellow Rose of Texas.

So those of us in the ranch business who are charged with stewarding productive land that will endure for generations, are engaged in a constant battle with the cedar trees. We try to mow them down when they are small so that they never get a toehold. We remove the larger stands because we know that our little streams and native trees will return, and our cherished harvest of hay to feed our animals over the winter will be protected.

It takes a bulldozer to say no to a cedar tree at the Double Heart Ranch.

What I learned from our relationship with the cedar trees is the power of saying no, and I use this wisdom in my business every day. When I sense that a new spurt of growth will ultimately take more than it contributes to the business, I say no, and I say it as early as I possibly can, because it only gets harder if you wait.

If you allow too many small and unprofitable "little cedars" to creep in to your business landscape, you will be focused on the things that keep you from growing, rather than the things that encourage your growth. Better to say "NO" to the pesky small stuff and put your efforts around landing the bigger deals. The bigger deals are harder to get. The competition is stiff and you will have to grow smarter and more nimble to land the uber deals. And you won’t get all of them. But one big piece of business leads to another. Once you have proven you have the ability to scale with the titans, others will follow suit.

Saying no isn’t easy. After all, it takes a bulldozer to say no to a cedar. But if you want to steward a successful and productive business that will grow over generations, you have to learn how to exercise discipline, act on your convictions, and harness the power of saying no.